A national court battle over the use of the likenesses of college athletes in video games has been kicked into an Atlanta court.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has been embroiled in a class-action lawsuit brought by current and former college basketball and football players who are suing the NCAA, claiming it misappropriated their names and images.

The NCAA contends Electronic Arts failed to indemnify the NCAA and maintain proper liability insurance to protect the NCAA from claims brought by the student athletes.

Additionally, the complaint alleges that Collegiate Licensing Co. (CLC) — the licensing agent for the NCAA — has breached its contract by failing to supervise EA’s obligation to maintain liability insurance as a licensee, which could subject the NCAA to being held liable in several lawsuits relating to EA’s alleged use of NCAA student athletes’ names, images and likeness in EA’s NCAA–themed video games.

“CLC also breached fiduciary duties that it owes to the NCAA as the NCAA’s agent, including through self-dealing in settlement negotiations without the NCAA’s knowledge, authorization or participation,” the lawsuit contends.

The NCAA is being represented in the action against EA and CLC by Leah Ward Sears, former chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court, now with Schiff Hardin LLP.

California-based Electronic Arts (NYSE: EA) is one of the world’s largest gaming companies, with revenues last year of $3.8 billion.

CLC represents nearly 200 of the nation’s top colleges, universities, bowl games, athletic conferences, the Heisman Trophy and the NCAA. The Midtown-based company says it represents college brands that comprise nearly 80 percent of the $4.6 billion retail market for collegiate licensed merchandise.

The dispute has been in litigation in California for the past four years.

The NCAA, CLC and EA declined to comment regarding the case.

In 2009, former Division I student-athletes Sam Keller (University of Nebraska) and Byron Bishop (University of North Carolina) sued Electronic Arts, alleging their and other former student athletes’ likenesses were wrongfully used in video games without compensation.

Steve Berman, lead attorney on the Keller case, reportedly said the NCAA “intentionally looked the other way while EA commercialized the likenesses of students, and it did so because it knew that EA’s financial success meant a bigger royalty check to the NCAA.”

Later in 2009, former Division I student-athletes Ryan Hart (Rutgers University) and Troy Taylor (University of California-Berkeley) sued EA in federal court in New Jersey for the wrongful use of student-athletes’ likenesses in video games.

And in July 2009, Ed O’Bannon (University of California-Los Angeles) sued the NCAA, EA and CLC in federal court in California, asserting that the alleged use of names, images and likenesses in EA’s video games without pay violated antitrust laws.

The antitrust lawsuits were later consolidated in California. Additionally, on Aug. 26 Shawne Alston (West Virginia University) sued EA in federal court in New Jersey.

On Sept. 26, the plaintiffs announced they were settling all claims against EA and CLC for $40 million, ESPN reported.

The same day, Cam Weber, general manager of American Football for EA Sports, announced that the company will not publish a new college football game in 2014 and that it’s evaluating its plans for the future of the business.

“We have been stuck in the middle of a dispute between the NCAA and student-athletes who seek compensation for playing college football,” Weber said. “Just like companies that broadcast college games and those that provide equipment and apparel, we follow rules that are set by the NCAA — but those rules are being challenged by some student-athletes. For our part, we are working to settle the lawsuits with the student-athletes. Meanwhile, the NCAA and a number of conferences have withdrawn their support of our game. The ongoing legal issues combined with increased questions surrounding schools and conferences have left us in a difficult position — one that challenges our ability to deliver an authentic sports experience, which is the very foundation of EA SPORTS games.”

Electronic Arts reported Nov. 5 that it has set aside $30 million to settle the actions brought by the student athletes.